C.E. Williams Middle School for Creative and Scientific Arts (CEW) is a partial magnet middle school located in the West Ashley area of Charleston, SC.  Our mission is to support the academic and developmental needs of middle grades learners and prepare them for high school, college and careers in a global economy. To accomplish this mission, it is critical to assist learners in becoming creative and innovative as well as being adept communicators and proficient with the use of technologies and media.

At CEW, we remember our “G.P.S.” which stands for “Growth + Preparation = Success!” Encouraging a growth mindset fosters an environment that is an incubator for creativity and the willingness for learners to take chances without the fear of failure. Teachers use a classroom discussion process to encourage the free exchange of ideas and thoughts within the context of the content. The “No Hands” policy requires learners to be prepared to engage content questions in the classroom. To further encourage a growth mindset, all learners are given the opportunity to complete error analysis for summative assessments. We also partner with Engaging Creative Minds, a non-profit organization that provides artists-in-residence to work with teachers to use an art form to deliver core content instruction to further build connections between disciplines and foster creativity.

CEW is a 1:1 device school which provides access to Chromebooks for all learners regardless of socioeconomic status. Learners use these devices for instructional activities such as research, writing, recording extended response videos, engaging adaptive software and creative projects. In addition, learners are frequently required to create presentations to communicate their learning formally or to communicate their ideas in classroom discussions. A school-wide annotation system (including one uniquely made for math) is utilized for learners to interact with text promoting a deeper understanding of content. We believe that writing demonstrates thinking and therefore ask learners often to do stop and jots, written responses, exit slips, inner voice sheets, annotation, and journal responses.

According to 2018 Spring Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) data, four of the six teacher teams saw more than double-digit growth in the percentage of learners who met or exceeded their Math MAP goals and two of the teams saw double-digit growth in Reading.

We will continue to focus on the priorities of Increasing overall achievement, eliminating achievement gaps, increasing parental satisfaction with home/school relations and increasing learner proficiency in citizenship factors.

Kevin Smith, Principal

Norma Smith, SIC Chair